Date: March 2016
The 2 Weeks Wait (2WW)
My appetite became very bad during the 2WW and kept craving for å’¸èœæ±¤ Sour Vegetable Soup all the time.
Had this for lunch at least 2 times a week to satisfy my craving.
I decided to do a test on Day 27 morning, the day that I had a BFP for Rainie and thought I saw a very faint line appearing. It was so faint that I was unsure if I had imagined it. JR also saw the faint line but we had doubts on its accuracy. I did another test again in the evening, this time using the Clear Blue test kit. It showed a faint positive cross! According to the instructions, a faint line is also considered a positive line :).
Can you see the cross?
We went down to Dr Lim’s clinic the next day (07 July 2015) to get it confirmed.
The test still showed a faint positive but Dr Lim confirmed my pregnancy! I was given another appointment date 2 weeks later since it was still early for any scanning.
The Scans
On 18 July 2015, we did the 1st scan. It was still early to see anything yet but Dr Lim saw 2 waterbags during the scans, i.e. there could but 2 babies in me! He confirmed it at our next scan done on 25 July 2015 that I was going to have twins. We were so happy about the news but have nobody to share with… Must wait for another 7 weeks before we could tell our close friends.
And again, I was lucky that I didn’t have to suffer from morning sickness . However, this time my tummy grew really big, causing leg cramps and stomach cramps if I sit for too long. I also had difficulties getting up from sitting positions and walking for long periods. Another problem I had in the 3rd trimester was the terrible heartburn and I was unable to sleep at nights. Dr Chan was really nice and gave me Hospital Leave so I could rest at home, hence I officially stopped working since 29 Jan 2016.
Me at week 37:
The day was finally here…
Date: 03 March 2016 Thursday
I woke up at 5 AM, couldn’t sleep much again due to excitement and bad heartburn. I had breakfast as I was required to fast from 5:45 AM. Thank you Alice for waking up so early to prepare my breakfast. Bathed and did last minute packing before leaving for the hospital at 7:25 AM. We arrived at Gleneagles at 8 AM. The lobby was empty hence it didn’t take us long to “check-in” onto the hospital. We were brought up to my single-bedded room 636. Immediately upon arrival at the ward on level 6, the nurse took my weight. I had thought my room was carpeted but it was not. The porter told us they had just renovated the ward and had changed the flooring.
Shortly after arriving in my room, I was told to change into the hospital gown and had my blood pressure and temperature taken. They didn’t perform the enema (“shit-inducer”) on me this time round :).
The last few photos of the pregnant me before I deliver…
2016: Me with the boys
2013: A similar photo taken in 2013 when I was pregnant with Rainie.
Soon it was time for the cesarean. The nurses came into my room with a gurney aka trolley bed. I put on a bouffant cap and ate the porcupine bezoar powder given by my 阿姨. The powder was unexpectedly bitter and couldn’t drink water to help me swallow. I got a sweet from JR secretly to help me overcome the bitterness. I was pushed up to the operating theater. Before entering the operating room, I was made to wait at the waiting area where all my details were checked again. JR was also made to changed into his scrubs.
The nurse in charge of my operation was the same one when I had Rainie (the one who talked to me about æ¯çˆ±æ˜¯æœ€ä¼Ÿå¤§çš„). She gave me a overview of what to expect during the surgery. My anesthesiologist, Dr. Dicky Tay came in next. Since it was not my first cesarean, he didn’t talk much about the procedures. We were left alone at the waiting area for very long before I was pushed into the operating theater. JR continued to wait outside while they prepared me for the cesarean.
As confirmed by the nurse in charge, the procedures were the same this round. I was first carried onto the operating bed. I was praying hard that everything would go smoothly. Dr Tay injected the back of my left palm and extracted my blood for cord blood collection. Everything seemed to be proceeding very fast, which was different from my previous experience. I was told to lie on my left and curled myself up to get ready for the epidural. I was so worried about feeling the pain and kept asked the head nurse again if it will hurt. The nurse answered me by saying something about injecting the medicine right then. I was telling myself not to think too much and close my eyes. The next thing I knew was the epidural was done, Dr Chan was already in the operating theater and was chatting with Dr Tay. Ling was also there and said she will place the catheter. I felt everything but there was no pain. It was a really weird feeling. A screen was already drawn up before my tummy so I couldn’t see the process of the cesarean. JR came in at this time and held my right hand. Dr Tay reassured that the epidural was working and he pinched my tummy and my shoulder to confirm it.
Dr Chan started to cut me open and I felt a lot of pulling. There were strong uncomfortable “electric currents” on my bladder which made me felt like peeing. Dr Chan pulled out my boys after all the pulling and I felt a great relief when both of them were out. It felt like I could really breathe again after so long.
Welcome Aldric & Elric to our family!
Aldric
Elric
Dr YY Yip was already in the operating theater and checked both boys. He turned to us and said both twins are doing good. I heard everyone in the room saying that both twins are of good sizes :).
Dr Tay helped us to take our family photos again (missing Rainie)…
With Dr Chan
The 4 of us (missing Rainie)
The boys, on the way to the nursery.
JR left the operating theater with the twins while Dr Chan stitched me up. He took about another 20 minutes to complete the stitching and I was sent to the recovery bay to rest. Once again I didn’t know how long I was required to stay there. I feel very sleepy and kept dozing off but was awaken by the nurses because they need to ensure that my breathing is normal before they could release me. Once I fall asleep, my breathing will stop for sometime and that was not what they want. After about 30-35 minutes there, the nurses from my ward were down to pick me up. I was pushed out and saw everyone waiting outside. We went back to my room 636 and was moved to the bed. The boys were then sent to my room for bonding and feeding.
The best family photo I could find. It was difficult to get everyone to look at the camera.
My recovery was faster this time round. We were all discharged from the hospital on 06 March 2016, Sunday, as expected.